Kevin Drum, the CalPundit, takes aim at fisking in this post, where he takes apart the Gettysburg Address in a line-by-line dismantling, similar to the manner in which many sites, including this one, do with leftist idiots with whom we disagree. He considers it childish, and dismisses the whole phenomenon with a condescending "knock it off".

I believe Mr. Drum has missed the wider pointdismantling idiotic columns serves a purpose beyond the obvious venting on the part of the writer; it allows others to understand why certain memes irritate them (many times, a fisking has made clear to me why I dislike a certain point of view, rather than leaving me with a vague feeling of disgust). Not everyone shares the smug, leftist worldview of the New York Times and its partisan imitators, and fisking serves as a outlet for aggrevation.

Robin Roberts, at Final Protective Fire, discovered an article in the Rocky Mountain News that demonstrates the total disconnect with reality that permeates much of the Democratic Party. The Colorado Democratic Party sent out a press release e-mail claiming that Proposition 30 (which prevents registering to vote within 30 days of an election) is supported only by white-supremacists. They (along with the NACCP, Council of La Raza, and the League of Women Voters) have tarred anyone who disagrees with last minute registration as racists. I will tar anyone who supports such a measure as a flaming moron, because it is an invitation to fraud.

Check out the link, and the rest of Robin's blog while you are there. It's well worth the visit.

Montana's Republican candidate for senator, Mike Taylor, is suspending his campaign against Max Baucus, citing a sleazy, homophobic ad campaign from the Democratic National Committee, which had destroyed his credibility.

The interesting point is that Montana's filing deadline (like that in New Jersey) has passed. Are the Republicans planning on substituting another candidate?

Initial indications are that the GOP are going to take the high ground by running a write-in campaign instead (a write-in campaign has a 15 day deadline). The whole issue might be framed to embarass the Democrats, since Taylor was already down by 19 points before the unseemly ads began running. By refusing to do a bait-and-switch routine, the GOP can (and should) point out their belief in the rule of law, which has never been a Democratic Party strong suit.

It is interesting that deadlines are so very important to the Dems when discussing Bush's tardy filing with the SEC or the receipt date for overseas ballots in the 2000 campaign, but unreasonably restrictive when it comes to ballot deadlines and submission of vote certifications also from the 2000 election). Double standards, anyone?

UPDATEOctober 12/12:45 PMThis Howard Kurtz article looks a lot like mine. I had not read his article until today. No plagiarism was intended on my part.

The Los Angeles Times has an interesting story about retailer Nordstrom teaming up with a duo of Mormon women to produce prom gowns that are both stylish and modest.

Mormon teens often have to improvise when it comes to fashion, because their religion prohibits the bare skin that is a staple of much of the current style for young women. Two Mormon mothers contacted the Nordstrom store at South Coast Plaza, a large, upscale mall in Costa Mesa, CA, about a fashion show featuring less revealing fashions. The show sold out (900 tickets) very quickly, and offered over 30 different designs, including a pair of custom-made gowns from a local Mormon designer.

While this show was promoted primarily among the Mormon community, there has been considerable interest from other groups, especially Muslims and Catholics who are distressed by the current styles, yet understanding of teenagers' desire to look nice for formal occasions. Nordstrom may discover that their dresses fly off the racks as they fill a niche that few other retailers see, despite the fact that it is a rather large and obvious hole.

As noted just about everywhere, the US Senate voted today to support the Bush Administration's request to commit US troops to compelling Iraq to comply with the multiple UN resolutions regarding Iraq's weapons programs. CNN even had a roll call of each vote. All 100 senators voted (50 Democrats, 49 Republicans, and 1 Independent). 48 Republicans and 29 Democrats voted in support, while 21 Democrats, 1 Republican, and 1 Independent voted against the resolution.

What I found to be interesting was the way the fall elections skewed the votesof the 21 Democrats voting "no", only four are facing reelection this year; nine senators (and Torricelli/NJ) who are up for reelection voted for the Bush initiative, including such stalwart lefties as Tom Harkin (IA), Jay Rockefeller (WV) and John Kerry (MA). Of the four that voted against the resolution, three are sure bets to win their racesDurbin (IL), Levin (MI), and Reed (RI). Only Paul Wellstone (MN) is risking his seat with his vote.

One has to wonder how much influence the election played in the voting, although most of the Democrats who voted in support are from the more moderate wing of the Democratic Party, and a majority of both parties supported the resolution, unlike the vote in the House of Representatives. 61 percent of the Democratic representatives voted against the measure, and they face election every two years, as opposed to the six-year terms of senators.

Re-election considerations played very heavily on Wellstone's "Nay" vote, too. He voted against the '91 Gulf War bill and was between a rock and a hard place. If he vaoted "Aye", he was open to attack for being inconsistent; a "Nay" vote might not play well, but at least allows him to claim he's consistent. I suspect breaking his promise to only serve two terms will hurt him more.

I dunno. We've had two pols go back on their self-imposed term limits here in Oklahoma, and it didn't affect their electability much. Then again, Wellstone is facing a tougher challenge than either of these guys (if you're keeping score: Don Nickles and the departing J. C. Watts) ever did.

Horologium is a wristwatch that encrypts all of its data! It looks like a stereo system.

I'm not sure if I like that, but it is interesting that it ties in with the whole timepiece thing. I'd be interested if that is a coincidence, or if there is some sophisticated linguistic decoding behind it all. (There's not a whole lot of info available at the site.)

[Note: This has made the rounds for those who work with military aircraft. If you fall into this category, you have probably seen some of these before.]

One of a technician's little joys is the opportunity to sign off a discrepancy reported by the flight crew (especially the rather silly ones) with a witty response. Usually, the more pungent replies are sanitized before the paperwork gets filed, but occasionally a funny one slips through. Below are a few examples of the slightly skewed minds of the maintenance community (most of these are USAF, but there are a few USN samples for variety).

Problem: Left inside-main tire almost needs replacement.Signoff: Almost replaced left inside-main tire.

Problem: Number 3 engine missing.Signoff: Engine found on right wing after brief search.

Problem: SDC makes sound like little green men with hammers banging on case.Signoff: Took hammers away from little green men.

Problem: Speed brake indicator barber poles when aircraft porpoises.Signoff: Could not duplicate gripe; test station would not porpoise.

Although they are likely apocryphal, I have heard persistent rumors of technicians signing off particularly stupid gripes with the corrective action of "removed and replaced pilot". A signoff such as that is very likely to result in punishment of some sort, because that crosses the line from humor to outright disrespect.

I always got some easy amusement from figuring out ways to put odd error/repair codes into the computerized equipment inventory after working on a piece of gear. After a while, "Reseated cards, cleaned contacts" gets really dull.

I can't remember the code numbers (perhaps you could look them up for me?) but my favourite was to enter "Air In System" as the fault (since that would be true regardless of the actual problem for all but one piece of gear we fixed). Never got to use "Birdstrike", though the Lord and my First Class know I tried a few times.